


Unnecessary Judgment

by NoOneFromNowhere



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Sexual Harassment, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 23:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20143630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoOneFromNowhere/pseuds/NoOneFromNowhere
Summary: Who doesn't love a tempestuous office romance?  Rey and Kylo Ren, probably.   Enter Rey, an aspiring attorney with big dreams of helping everyday people, and Kylo Ren, a disillusioned corporate attorney.  What's the worst that could happen?*more chapters to follow.  AO3 is not cooperating at the moment.





	Unnecessary Judgment

_‘How is it only 9:30 in the morning?’_ Rey wondered while glaring tiredly at the small clock in the bottom corner of her computer screen. She stretched, something Rey hadn’t done since she’d sat down two hours ago and looked at her desk – coffee cups piled dangerously high, old papers stained with ink, and at least two stacks of folders Rey needed to get through before lunch. 

Pulling a small grocery bag from her backpack, she swept the tower of cups in, hoping she’d get to leave at a reasonable hour (yeah, right) and have the chance to drop them in the Café’s recycling bin. Then she piled up all the loose papers and shoved the stack to the side of her desk, she’d sort through them when she had some extra time. 

Next, to her, the computer fan for her old PC began groaning, resembling an airplane trying to take off, but failing miserably. It worked about as well as she did in this sweltering heat. Funny how everyone else’s offices had air conditioning, but her makeshift office, a closet in a former life, did not. At least the winter was bearable, she could bundle up in two sweaters and a coat. But in the summertime? She wouldn’t take off more than her blazer while working at this company full of perverted sleazebags.

Rey took a sip of her cold coffee trying to find more energy in its murky bitter depths, she hadn’t yet found a solution to keep her hot drinks warm, and her iced coffee cold in this torture room from hell that was her “office”, but she still holding out for an answer. 

Feeling slightly better, or at least like her office was less of the hovel than it actually was, she turned back to her keyboard, which was so worn that twenty-three of twenty-six letters were no longer legible. After three years working for Unkar Plutt, things never seemed to get better. What had started as a temporary job as an assistant, had turned into three grueling years – one as an assistant, then as a legal clerk, and now as a first-year associate. 

Rey could almost remember starting here, the excitement of gaining legal experience, and no longer bagging groceries. She would be working towards her dream of becoming an attorney. The allure wore off quickly when Plutt had put her first desk in his own office and leered at her for most of the day. Rey had stopped wearing skirts to work and would likely never wear one again. 

To her left, Rey felt a breeze as the door slammed open. Never one to knock, Unkar stepped into the cramped space. Rey offered a short good morning. That’s all she had, nothing more, nothing less. Just the sight of that man or even knowledge of his existence filled her with despair that became deeper every day. 

Unkar was not just her awful boss, but her former foster parent. Most of the foster parents she’d been with had left much to be desired, but Plutt had been the worst. She knew he pocketed the money provided by the state and left her to wear her clothes until they were almost worn through. To this day, Rey hardly ever wore socks because she had learned to go without. He’d never bothered much with feeding her either. Thankfully, Coruscant public schools offered free breakfast and lunch, and Rey made sure to always load up her pockets with leftovers from other kids’ plates. Because that’s who Rey was, a scavenger, and above all, a survivor. When she had walked out of his door on her eighteenth birthday with a grocery bag containing all of her possessions, she had sworn to never deal with the man again. 

But she was wrong.

After putting herself through university, a feat that took three roommates, two jobs, and a scholarship, she had been accepted into law school. However, it’s one thing to be accepted, and quite another to get a real legal job without legal experience. Rey looked everywhere for an entry-level position while bagging groceries and attending classes at night. No one wanted someone without legal experience. But one day, as fate would have it, Unkar dropped through her line at the grocery mart and happened to need an assistant. While it felt like making a deal with the Devil, Rey accepted the chance because she believed it was short term and the fact that she was still here grated on her nerves every single day. 

When she had graduated from law school, she thought that her days at Putt’s firm were finally through and had dived into finding another real job. The problem was that the market was very competitive, and while she was a top student in her class, she had to compete with fancy kids from fancier school, with fancy parents with fancy connections. She had secured interviews at several small firms, and they had always seemed to go so well. There was always a promise of hearing back once they’d spoken to her references, her old manager from the supermarket and Unkar. Never a call back though, much to her chagrin, just letters of rejection.

So, there she was at graduation, on the brink of having to pay student loans, and likely homelessness, when she begrudgingly accepted Unkar’s stingy offer to remain on his staff as an associate.

Although, things had taken a turn for the better when she met Finn, her roommate, and now her best friend. Not only did he pay his share of the bills, but he cared enough about her to offer to get her a job at First Order, LLC, a large firm known for generous salaries. The only catch was that they represented corporations only, not everyday people, and that was a real problem for Rey. She didn’t want to help corporations, she wanted to help real people with their very real problems. And so, the opportunity passed her by, as First Order, LLC filled their incoming first-year quotas and had no more openings for people with her experience. 

But at least she was helping real people at Unkar’s office, even if she was just scraping by on her meager salary. Except that she really wasn’t, because not even two months into working with the clients she realized that most were only feigning injuries to collect money from their insurance companies, and Unkar was happy to collect his fee. With nowhere else to go, here she was, one year later, sweating her ass off in a closet, broke, and helping no one.

Rey was startled from her thoughts as Unkar dumped a trash bag of car insurance records onto her freshly picked up desk. Screaming internally and biting her cheek, she watched as the man lumbered back out slamming the door taking away the cool air that had begun to seep into the room. Sighing in defeat she went to back to work dreading the rest of the day as a drop of sweat started to roll down her back. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta icedaquarius31. You are amazing!
> 
> Comments are worth 100 portions. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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